Making a Comeback in Osaka, a New Land

The period of providing technical guidance on the Sharp Pencil lasted over nine months. When it came to an end, Tokuji left the transferee company on good terms and began planning a new start in Osaka. It was the nature of the inhabitants of Osaka to focus on business and to judge people chiefly on the basis of their personal character, and Tokuji found that these sensibilities matched his own. He leased the land on which the current Sharp Head Office is situated (Tanabe-cho, Higashinari-gun, Osaka Prefecture; today, Nagaike-cho, Abeno-ku, Osaka), which was nothing but rural farmland at that time, and on September 1, 1924, just one year after the earthquake, Tokuji put up a sign that read, Hayakawa Metal Works Institute Co. At last, he had taken a step forward toward a comeback. Although his immediate jobs were centered on manufacturing parts for writing instruments, the work progressed smoothly. However, this could not compare with his former prosperity, and Tokuji’s desire was to develop a new business as quickly as possible. It was at such a time that he encountered the radio.